Is this law suit Zoloft/apraxia link grabbing at straws?

[Guest guest]

There's been a huge rise in apraxia...and I'm sure many of us while

pregnant at some point ate a Mc 's french fry...but does that

mean that we sue Mc 's? In my life I was never on any type of

anti depressant -Zoloft or any other -and in our group believe that's

a small group that was...so how are is this law firm linking the birth

of this woman's apraxic child to Zoloft?

I mean...maybe she just lived in NJ or in an area of a state that

borders NJ, Ohio, California, Georgia, Texas or somewhere in the

Carolinas during her pregnancy!

Don't get me wrong -I'm not saying that Zoloft can't cause birth

defects -I'm the type of person that is resistant to any medication

unless I'm convinced it's 100% needed -I don't just take or give

things solely because some random doctor advices it, even if I respect

them -people make mistakes and I double check (and the one time I

didn't because I looked at it as " just " vitamin E and K -HUGE

mistake!!!)...but the oral/verbal apraxia link from Zoloft? Possible

I guess -but I don't think so. In my opinion Zoloft or not this woman

would have been a member of our group. Most of us have not a clue why

we have a child with apraxia...french fries aside that is.

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SSRI birth Defects: Why Weren't Warnings Issued Sooner?

Valley Home, AK: When (not her real name) gave birth to her now

5-year old son, he had a lung and heart deformity. had taken the

anti depressant Zoloft, albeit briefly, during her pregnancy, and

given all she's subsequently read, now wonders if her son's birth

defects are SSRI-related birth defects.

When 's son was born, he wasn't breathing. The medical staff had

to resuscitate him and place him in an incubator. He was then

diagnosed with pectus excavatum. " It's a lung and heart 'deformity' I

guess you would call it, " said. " It's supposed to be hereditary

but no one in our family has this. My son also has breathing problems,

and some type of brain damage which had to be in uterus and caused

oral and verbal apraxia. "

Apraxia is an impairment of the nerves or nervous system that affects

a person's ability to plan, execute and sequence motor movements.

Verbal apraxia affects the programming of the articulators and rapid

sequences of muscle movements for speech sounds. Oral apraxia involves

nonspeech movements e.g., blowing, puckering, licking food from the

lips – those kinds of things.

" My son didn't talk until much later than is considered normal, " said

. " When he was 2 he just mumbled. And there were other things

like he couldn't put his tongue in his cheek, for example. He went to

speech therapy for 2 years; that helped. "

So far, has yet to receive any kind of diagnosis for her son,

beyond those given when he was born, making treatment difficult. " He's

been tested for Autism, and the results were negative, but he does

have behavioural problems, like anxiety and disruptive behaviour, " she

said. " They think he has sensory processing disorder - but they

haven't given him a diagnosis of that. At one point they thought he

had ADHD, and wanted to give him drugs for that but I refused. "

Not surprisingly, has been doing a lot of reading, prompted in

part by a need to try and understand what's happening to her son, and

in part by an ad she saw on television some time ago, describing SSRI

birth defects.

" I saw a TV commercial and it got me thinking. I never thought that

Zoloft may have played a role in his health problems, because my

doctor said it was okay to take it, " said. " I've read a lot, and

I try to help my son. I love him, and I will do what I can for him. I

wonder what the outcome would have been if I hadn't taken Zoloft. As a

parent, I want to know why this has happened – what caused it –

because it would provide some kind of closure. "

SSRIs--also known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors--are a

class of antidepressant. Until about 2005 there were no real warnings

of the possibility of birth defects connected with the use of these

drugs during pregnancy. All that changed, however, in 2005, when the

first public warnings emerged from the Food and Drug Administration

(FDA) about the potential for serious heart defects in babies born to

women taking SSRI antidepressants during pregnancy.

SSRI Birth Defects

's son was born in 2004, before any of the public warnings were

issued, together with the studies showing the link between birth

defects and SSRI use in pregnancy.

To say that the situation and her son are in is frustrating

would be an understatement. Had known in advance of the possible

consequences, she would not have taken an SSRI during her pregnancy.

Worse, is not the only mother with questions. There are many

women with similar stories to tell. Chief among the many questions

they would like answered is why weren't the warnings issued sooner?

http://www.lawyersandsettlements.com/articles/11869/paxil-defects-birth-side-eff\

ects-12.html

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